This page illustrates some of the things I’ve made with bobbin lace-making. I was a member of the NZ Lace Society and Christchurch Lacemakers in the 1980s – 1990s, regularly entering bobbin lace items in their annual competitions.
The corners for this ivory silk handkerchief are Bucks Point lace woven with very fine silk thread with a thicker gimp thread to outline the pattern, and a honeycomb ground. It was given a commendation in the NZ Lace Society AGM competition in 1990. Bucks point is a bobbin lace from the South East of England, made in one piece on a lace pillow using bobbins wound with thread and is made of linen or silk. It can have picots along the edge as this handkerchief does.
A tāniko pattern from Hirini Moko Mead’s book “Te Whatu Tāniko” which I wove using bobbin lace techniques and coloured thread in an attempt to imitate a wooden carving. The gimp thread outlining the pattern was too soft for the task and the pattern would look better with a crisper, more defined outline. However it was interesting to convert a pattern designed for tāniko weaving into a bobbin lace template and weave it using bobbin lace techniques.
I wove this Bucks Point Lace Scottish thistle book mark my father, Jim Mackenzie. However he never used it as a bookmark as he was scared of losing it and framed it instead. The backing is Mackenzie tartan ribbon. On the right is a closeup of the thistle in the bookmark. It shows the thicker gimp thread outlining the thistle head and, being a modern design, it has a simple over / under filling instead of the traditional honeycomb filling.
A typical lace pillow used for English lace making. Threads are wound on the bobbins and the patterns are made by weaving the bobbins across the pillow in different combinations. The bobbins can be beautiful in themselves, being made with different woods, bone and horn and the spangles, or weights, at the end of the bobbins are often made with beautiful beads. Antique bobbins are collectors’ items and sought after. Thanks to Liz at Rothwell Bobbins, UK for the use of this image of a lace pillow.
The insert for this card is one element of a pattern woven in Bucks Point lace and framed in coloured card. The lace card received The Judy Downward award at the 1992 NZ Lace Society AGM.
Decorated with a Bucks Point lace trim, my pincushion made in the shape of a hat won the first prize in the 1992 NZ Lace Society competition. The pincushion has a ribbon hat band, decorated with two little pink roses, 
around the base of the crown. On the left, the closeup of the lace shows the pink gimp thread outlining the edging of the lace on the brim of the hat. The prize was a set of 31 beautiful hand-turned native wood bobbins made by a New Zealand bobbin maker of the time.
Baby’s fine cotton christening gown made with Torchon lace inserts, completed in 1989. The closeup shows the daisy shapes made by weaving petal shapes in a round. The inserts on the sleeves are a variation of the main bodice pattern.
A delicate snowdrop on a stem made using Honiton lace techniques, and with tiny green dots added on the ends of the petals. The two black pieces are more samples of Honiton lace, which is made on a large rounded pillow and uses bobbins with pointed ends rather than having spangles on them.
On the left are two examples of East European lace, more in the style of images and woven with thicker thread. The earrings on the right are woven with very fine coloured thread and have tiny beads at the base to give them weight.
The picture on the left, of an iconic braided river typical of Aotearoa New Zealand’s rivers, is woven with cotton thread in muted natural colours, a metallic thread running down some parts of the river to make it sparkle. I enjoyed designing and weaving this piece.
The picture on the right, woven with metallic thread, represents the night sky with a shooting star arcing its way across the heavens and the Southern Cross at the top right. Another fun project.
A set of 18 Bucks Point lace fillings woven for a sample page on the left and various sample trials of Bucks Point and Torchon lace on the right.
At the time that I was involved in bobbin lace-making, I made a number of lace pillows designed to be used for lace-making to take while travelling. They included a roller as the base to make the lace on, side compartments for storage and a pincushion. To prepare for travelling, the bobbins were well-secured in a material wrap pinned to the working base, which then folded up with the other three sides to make a carry case. I used my travelling lace-making pillow regularly, as did others who purchased them from me.
© Ali Brown 2025